A comparison of some methods for the purification of abscisic acid and its metabolites from plants extracts

The use of small columns containing charcoal and cellulose for the purification of abscisic acid and its metabolites from plant extracts is described. These columns have high capacity and the sample processing time is short. The efficiencies of recovery of abscisic acid, abscisic acid glucose ester, dihydrophaseic acid and an unidentified highly polar metabolite of abscisic acid are about 90%. The method is shown to be superior to other published methods using commercial pre-packed cartridges.